II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1030 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for clarification as to 

the meaning of access without authorization, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 21, 2015 

Mr. WYDEN (for himself and Mr. PAUL) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for clarification as to the meaning of access without authorization, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Aaron’s Law Act of 

5 2015’’. 


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•S 1030 IS

1 SEC. 2. CLARIFYING THAT ‘‘ACCESS WITHOUT AUTHORIZA2 TION’’ UNDER SECTION 1030 OF TITLE 18, 

3 UNITED STATES CODE, MEANS CIRCUMVEN4 TION OF TECHNOLOGICAL BARRIERS IN 

5 ORDER TO GAIN UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1030(e)(6) of title 18, 

7 United States Code, is amended by— 

8 (1) striking ‘‘exceeds authorized access’’ and all 

9 that follows; and 

10 (2) inserting the following: ‘‘ ‘access without au11 thorization’ means— 

12 ‘‘(A) to obtain information on a protected 

13 computer; 

14 ‘‘(B) that the accesser lacks authorization 

15 to obtain; and 

16 ‘‘(C) by knowingly circumventing one or 

17 more technological or physical measures that 

18 are designed to exclude or prevent unauthorized 

19 individuals from obtaining that information;’’. 

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1030 of 

21 title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (d)(10), by striking ‘‘unau23 thorized access, or exceeding authorized access, to 

24 a’’ and inserting ‘‘access without authorization of a 

25 protected’’; and 


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•S 1030 IS

1 (2) by striking ‘‘exceeds authorized access’’ 

2 each place it appears. 

3 SEC. 3. ELIMINATING REDUNDANCY. 

4 (a) REPEAL.—Section 1030(a) of title 18, United 

5 States Code, is amended— 

6 (1) by striking paragraph (4); and 

7 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (5), (6), and 

8 (7) as paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), respectively. 

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 1030 of 

10 title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (c)— 

12 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘(a)(6)’’ 

13 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘(a)(5)’’; 

14 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

15 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

16 ‘‘subsection (a)(4) or (a)(7)’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘subsection (a)(6)’’; and 

18 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

19 ‘‘subsection (a)(4), or (a)(7)’’ and insert20 ing ‘‘subsection (a)(6)’’; and 

21 (C) in paragraph (4)— 

22 (i) in subparagraph (A)(i), in the mat23 ter preceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘sub24 section (a)(5)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub25 section (a)(4)(B)’’; 


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•S 1030 IS

1 (ii) in subparagraph (B)(i), by strik2 ing ‘‘subsection (a)(5)(A)’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘subsection (a)(4)(A)’’; 

4 (iii) in subparagraph (C)(i), by strik5 ing ‘‘subsection (a)(5)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub6 section (a)(4)’’; 

7 (iv) in subparagraph (D)(i), by strik8 ing ‘‘subsection (a)(5)(C)’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘subsection (a)(4)(C)’’; 

10 (v) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

11 ‘‘subsection (a)(5)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub12 section (a)(4)(A)’’; 

13 (vi) in subparagraph (F), by striking 

14 ‘‘subsection (a)(5)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub15 section (a)(4)(A)’’; and 

16 (vii) in subparagraph (G)(i), by strik17 ing ‘‘subsection (a)(5)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub18 section (a)(4)’’; and 

19 (2) in subsection (h), by striking ‘‘subsection 

20 (a)(5)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(4)’’. 

21 SEC. 4. MAKING PENALTIES PROPORTIONAL TO CRIMES. 

22 (a) Section 1030(c)(2) of title 18, United States 

23 Code, is amended— 

24 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 


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•S 1030 IS

1 (A) by striking ‘‘conviction for another’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘subsequent’’; and 

3 (B) by inserting ‘‘such’’ after ‘‘attempt to 

4 commit’’; 

5 (2) in subparagraph (B)(i), by inserting after 

6 ‘‘financial gain’’ the following: ‘‘and the fair market 

7 value of the information obtained exceeds $5,000’’; 

8 (3) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ‘‘the of9 fense was committed’’ and all that follows through 

10 the semicolon, and inserting the following: ‘‘the of11 fense was committed in furtherance of any criminal 

12 act in violation of the Constitution or laws of the 

13 United States or of any State punishable by a term 

14 of imprisonment greater than one year, unless such 

15 criminal acts are prohibited by this section or such 

16 State violation would be based solely on accessing in17 formation without authorization;’’; 

18 (4) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by inserting ‘‘fair 

19 market’’ before ‘‘value’’; and 

20 (5) in subparagraph (C)— 

21 (A) by striking ‘‘conviction for another’’ 

22 and inserting ‘‘subsequent’’; and 

23 (B) by inserting ‘‘such’’ after ‘‘attempt to 

24 commit’’. 

Æ 


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